1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to straddle type vehicles and, more particularly, to a straddle type vehicle including a system for performing a specified operation in response to rotation of a grip, starting from a free position, in the direction opposite that in which the grip is rotated to accelerate the vehicle.
2. Description of the Background Art
Motorcycles, a type of straddle type vehicles, are known. Some motorcycles provide an auto-cruise mode. As used herein, auto-cruise mode means the mode in which a travel speed is automatically maintained regardless of the grip operation by the rider. Typically, the auto-cruise mode reduces operational burdens on the rider and reduces fuel consumption compared with the normal travel mode in which the rider rotates the grip to control the travel speed.
Since the travel speed is maintained at a certain level in auto-cruise mode, the auto-cruise mode must be cancelled in order to accelerate or decelerate the motorcycle. The rider can cancel the auto-cruise mode by actuating a switch provided on the handlebars, for example. The rider must actuate a switch to cancel the auto-cruise mode. Since actuating a switch is an operation different from the operations to decelerate or accelerate the motorcycle in normal mode, the rider has some difficulty cancelling the auto-cruise mode in a motorcycle with a switch used to cancel the auto-cruise mode.
A motorcycle described in JP 2010-247681 A includes an arrangement that allows the operator to cancel the auto-cruise mode with a simple operation. In the motorcycle of JP 2010-247681 A, the auto-cruise mode can be cancelled by rotating the grip, starting from the free position, in a direction that causes the motorcycle to be decelerated. As used herein, free position means the position of the grip where no force acts on the grip.
In the motorcycle of JP 2010-247681 A, rotating the grip causes the accelerator pulley to rotate together with the rotated grip. In the motorcycle of JP 2010-247681 A, rotation of the accelerator pulley is detected by a sensor to cancel the auto-cruise mode.